Towards Effective Place Brand Management Branding European Cities and Regions Edited by Gregory Ashworth Professor of Heritage Planning and Urban Tourism, Llniversity of Groningen, the Netherlands Mihalis Kavaratzis Associate Professor of Marketing and Tourism, International Business School Budapest, Hungary Edward Elgar Cheltenham, UK. Northampton, MA, USA O Gregory Ashworth and Mihalis Kavaratzis 2010 All rights reserved. No part ol this publication may be reproduced, stored in a rótrieval system or iransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical oiphotocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Published by Edward Elgar Publishing Limited The Lypiatts 15 Lansdown Road Cheltenham Glos GL50 2JA UK Edward Elgar Publìshing, Inc. \Milliam Pratt House 9 Dewey Court Northampton Massachusetts 01060 USA A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Control Number: 2009941148 Mixed Sources Product group from well-managed forests and other controlled sources r w.fsc.oro Ceft no.5A'C0C-1565 lJ ò1.-^ ^ orggerores-tsrewardshipcoùncil ISBN 978 I 848442429 Printed and bound by MPG Books Group, UK Contents List oJ Jtgures vll List of tables viii List of contributors ix 1. Place branding: where do we stand? Mihalis Kqvaratzis and Gregory Ashworlh 2. Place branding theory: a cross-domain literature review from a marketing perspective 15 Graham Hankin,son 3. Is corporate branding relevant to places? Mihalis Kavaratzis 4. Place marketing, local identity and branding cultural images in Southern Europe: Nea Ionia, Greece and Pafos, Cyprus Alex Deffner and Theodore Metaxa.s 5. Branding Madrid: from'Madrid Global' to'global Madrid' María Cristina Mateo and Gildo Seisdedo.v 6. Managing Otherness: the political economy of place images in the case of Tuscany 89 Nícola Bellini, Anna Lffiedo and Cecilia Pasquinelli 1 . Place-making or place branding? Case studies of Catalonia and Wales 116 Assumpció Huertas Roig, Annelte Pritchard and Nigel Morgan 8. Branding Aalborg: building community or selling place? 136 Anette Therkelsen, Henrik Halkier and Ole B. Jensen 9. Mind the gap: reputation, identity and regeneration in post-ind ustrial cities 156 Myfanwy Trueman, l'{ e larine Corneliu.s, Mirza Mohammed Ali Baig and Joyce Liddle 10. The'be Berlin' campaign: old wine in new bottles or innovative form of participatory place branding? t73 CÌaire Colomb and Ares Kalandides 1 l. Place satisfaction of city residents: findings and implications for city branding l9t Andrea Insch and Magdalena Florek ri Towards effective place brand management 12. Semiotics and place branding: the influence of the built and natural environment in city logos 205 Gary Warnaby and Dominic Medway 13. Personality association as an instrument of place branding: possibilities and pitfalls 222 Gregory Ashworth 14. Conclusion: in search of effective place brand management 234 Gregory Ashworth and Mihalis Kavaratzis References 240 Index 269 6. Managing Otherness: the political economy of place images in the case of Tusc any Nicola Bellini, Anna Loflredo and Cecilia Pasquinelli INTRODUCTION Discussions about image and branding policies are usually placed in the framework of 'place marketing' and marketing literature helps in defining the features, components and main characters of image and of its relation- ship with local identity. We suggest, howevet, that managing images is also a political process with significant impact in supporting and shaping the scenario (perceptions and expectations) for innovation and economic policies (Bellini, 2004). The argument is supported by two different and complementary case studies from Tuscany (Italy). The first one discusses the case olareas that show a divergence from the dominating pattern of social and economic development in the region. It is shown that 'managing otherness' is more than a communication problem and may reveal underlying ambiguities: at the same time, a request for supporting structurally disadvantaged areas and the affirmation of an alternative identity and of alternative development patterns. The second case study shows a different kind of 'otherness', concerning new industries and emerging social groups. Discussion shows that the branding process may imply a competition between images in order to control the represen- tation of the past, present and future of an area. This competition aims at influencing the policy agenda by manipulating the gaps between image and identity. 89 90 Towards effective place brand ntanagement THE THEORY The Lessons from Marketing Place image (the image of a region, of a city etc.) has come to the atten- tion of both scholars and practitioners mostly within the framework of place marketing in its three main variations defined by its target (inward investors, tourists, residents) as well as with relerence to country-of-origin effects on product image (Kotler and Gertner,2002; Rainisto, 2003; Jaffe and Nebenzahl,2006; van Ham,2008). It is certainly a concept with a longer history, but it is marketing that has framed it in a consistent way and, above all, has tried to operationalize it. Place branding has been defined as the practice of applying brand strategy and other marketing techniques and disciplines to the economic, social, political and cultural development of cities, regions and countries. Marketing has thus provided 'a philosophy of place management' (Ashworth and Voogd, 1994:39) and place branding has attempted to transfer into local economic develop- ment not only some communication techniques, but also the identity- building power, the linking value and the emphasis on experience that 'post-modern' scholars attach to brands (Kavaratzis and Ashworth, 2005; The Communication Group, 2006; Kavaratzis, 2007; Anholt, 2007). V/ithout doubt, marketing has either strengthened or introduced some serious biases in the way we look at place images. The emphasis on distinctiveness and competitiveness has reflected an obsession with urban and regional 'entrepreneurialism' as well as with an easily misconceived 'customer orientation'. Furthermore marketing implies a competitive, quasi-mercantilist view of regional and local development that is increas- ingly unrealistic (or at least, partially misleading) in the networkJike, 'coopetitive' scenario of today (cf. Kalandides, 2007a). Lastly, branding tends to be seen as a technocratic activity, representing the belief in the virtues of professionalism in public management, as opposed to old- fashioned politics. On a more technical side, the dominance of marketing approaches aimed at attracting economic actors, such as tourists and inward investors, has led to emphasize strong, seductive images ('a special place to be'). The new priorities in the 'knowledge economy', and especially the emphasis on attractiveness with regard to residents belonging to certain social groups (such as the 'creative class'), imply to re-focus attention on the quality of everyday life and of the 'ordinary place'. Marketing lessons are nonethe- less fundamental also from a policy perspective. As marketing teaches us, image is bound to have important effects which can be dangerous when they are not monitored or when they are not dealt with: Managing Otherness: the case of Tuscany 9l image reflects and synthesizes the experiences and visions of indi- viduals and groups, from which it derives. Two aspects co-exist: the evqluative component which reflects our experiences and what we perceive as real, and the preferential component which portrays the desires and motivations, in short, what we wish the area to be like (cf. Ashworth and Voogd,1990a:11et seq.); image communicates and shapes expectations with respect to what the area can or should give to individuals. This concerns not only explicit expectations (those which, even though they are not nec- essarily realistic, clearly define problems and solutions), but also those much more difficult to manage - which are implicit (taken for granted or which are not subject to discussion), or even fuzzy (as they are schematic, ideological, emotional, and not based on a clear understanding of what should be done concretely and how); image is a filter that influences the perception olthe area, the quality of life and services, the level of development and the (individual and collective) expectations about the future. It obviously also filters communication: a positive image reinforces the credibility of mes- sages, whereas a negative image reduces their credibility; a positive image allows minor problems not to be emphasized, but can result in underestimating emerging threats, whereas a negative image on the other hand can lead to the dramatization of marginal questions but can also raise attention in time by emphasizing weak signals; o image is self-reinforcing through the activities olactors that conform to the expectations and through their subjective evaluations based on the relationship between perception and expectations (Figure 6.1). When an image has been consolidated, it is likely to be self-fulfilling. From Marketing to Policy In our view, marketing is no substitute for policy. Still marketing can be functional to policy, especially when we consider it in a governance per- spective. By the term 'governance' we mean a variety of guidance mecha- nisms, not necessarily restricted to public actors, whereby social processes are consciously directed in situations ofinterdependence. The concept that allows best to describe and understand the pracfical